Just One Look

Nine-year-old Rebecca Stossmeister gets a head start on her piloting career at the helm of the NSF/NCAR C-130. "She loved it," says dad Greg Stossmeister (JOSS). Greg, Rebecca, and her brother Andrew were among more than 40 parents, children, and friends who attended a tour at Jeffco of the Research Aviation Facility and nearby Colorado Aero Tech on a snowy Saturday, 16 October. Friends of UCAR and the NCAR Education and Tour Program collaborate on this annual event for children of staff and for kids signed them up as Junior Scientists through Friends of UCAR. First the visitors slushed across the street to Aero Tech, where Steve Steele showed how the company trains more than 700 students a year for aircraft-related jobs with leading airlines. Then, back at RAF, ATD scientist Bruce Gandrud held court inside the C-130, showing how the plane is being outfitted for upcoming flights, including the TOPSE mission. Retired flight engineer Harold Barber described the plane's exterior fittings and other items of interest around RAF. The snow dashed plans for an outdoor lunch, so visitors picnicked inside the RAF hangar. If you have tips for science-related places that you'd like to bring your kids to next year, please send your suggestions to Rene Munoz,
munoz@ucar.edu,
ext. 1173. For more information on Friends of UCAR, contact Gloria Kelly,
gloriak@ucar.edu,
ext. 2102. (Photo by Cheryl Wiles.)